He didn't know whether this was the mastermind's arrangement or the result of the world's free evolution.
If this was the work of the mastermind, then the mastermind's goal has clearly been achieved.
He used these deceased people to slowly torture everyone in their hearts, biting them one cut after another.
"Noah, send a signal," Qin Chu commanded. "Video connection established."
Upon hearing this, everyone else on the starship turned to look at Qin Chu. Although they were all suffering, they knew that Qin Chu was probably the one who was having the worst time right now.
Noah hesitated for a moment before confirming with Qin Chu again before sending the signal.
The call was answered quickly, and Qin Fei appeared on the screen.
She leaned back in her chair, relaxed, but when she saw Qin Chu on the screen, she leaned forward and stared intently for a while.
A male voice soon came from behind Qin Fei: "What are you looking at? You seem so engrossed."
Qin Fei pointed at the screen: "It is quite beautiful. If I had met you a few years earlier, you probably wouldn't have stood a chance."
The conversation was relaxed, and soldiers could be seen walking around casually behind them.
They didn't take encountering the starship seriously; it was just a minor incident on their return journey.
Soon, Chu He also peeked over and took a look, then turned around and teased Qin Fei: "I think you're narcissistic."
Everyone around Qin Chu knew what Chu He meant by those words.
Qin Chu and Qin Fei look very alike; you can tell they're related at a glance.
But appearances are easily faked, and the two people opposite clearly didn't take it seriously.
Qin Fei picked up the water beside her and took a sip before looking at the screen and asking, "Since you want to surrender, give me your name."
Qin Chu lowered his eyes slightly, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Captain of the First Warship, Qin Chu."
Author's Note:
I wanted to write a little more, but I'm too tired to continue tomorrow.
Chapter 149 Fighting Side by Side
The person on the other end was taken aback, then looked up at Chu He beside him: "Listen to this, isn't it funny?"
Chu He leaned over and glanced at Qin Chu again: "I do know someone named Qin Chu, but he's not even five years old yet."
Then he joked with Qin Fei, "If that kid grows up to look like this, I'll be satisfied."
Qin Fei nodded, but then added coldly, "You're not allowed to be a space pirate."
The two continued talking to themselves, unaware of the other person's feelings.
Qin Chu interrupted them, saying, "You don't need to believe me. But I have my own mission, and I need you to clear the way."
“That won’t work now,” Qin Fei said. “We’ve received a new mission that requires the First Warship to intercept space pirates on its return journey.”
Negotiations stalled again; they had no way to prove their identity. Although Noah shamelessly displayed the "Noah" logo on the starship, they still couldn't prove its legitimacy.
The soldiers on the first warship will absolutely not abandon their mission.
After communications were cut off, silence fell once more inside the starship.
Qin Chu tried his best to set aside his personal feelings and pondered a solution.
The opposing warships showed no sign of letting their guard down. Although most of their personnel had returned to their ships or aircraft to rest, they remained on high alert. There was no doubt that any unusual activity on one side would trigger a merciless attack on the other.
The Noah is currently connected to other smaller worlds. Although it can withstand a certain level of attack, fighting it would still be extremely difficult.
not to mention……
This war will never happen.
"Regroup where you are and prepare your defenses," Qin Chu ordered Noah.
Then he stood up, looked at his teammates behind him, whose emotions were either low or resentful, and said in a low voice, "Take a good rest today."
Qin Chu didn't stay in the control room any longer and returned to his room.
Levi followed behind him quietly, without saying much.
This is a difficult matter; even someone as carefree as Levy finds it suffocating.
The mastermind's ability to kill and destroy people's spirits is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
After standing silently by the window for a while, Qin Chu suddenly turned to look at Levi, who was sitting in a chair, and asked, "What if I die someday..."
Levy looked up, his face extremely grim.
He said irritably, "What nonsense are you talking about? I came here to keep you company just to listen to this? If you're unhappy, come and take a nap."
Qin Chu was somewhat speechless: "It's just a hypothetical scenario."
Levi reached out and rubbed his face: "Alright, go ahead and say it."
Qin Chu then continued, "If after I die, you encounter a clone made from my genes on your way to do something very important, and the clone blocks your way, what will you do?"
Levi's face was still dark. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'll kill him, and then I'll kill the person who made this clone."
Qin Chu: "..."
After thinking about it, I realized that a copy of a gene and this kind of data are still different.
He changed his tune: "What if, like now, you encounter my data entity in the virtual world?"
Levy remained silent for a long time this time.
After a long while, he stood up, stretched, and said to Qin Chu, "No, that doesn't work."
"Why?" Qin Chu asked.
“You’ve overlooked something very important.” Levi looked up at him. “If you die, I won’t have anything important to do.”
"What if it was something I asked you to do before I died?" Qin Chu asked again.
“That’s even more impossible,” Levy said. “I used to think you were someone who followed rigid rules. But I’ve found out that the military’s rules aren’t rigid at all, and what you’re really following isn’t the rules, but your own set of values.”
“If this data entity is truly composed of everything you were ever, then it won’t stop me,” Levy continued. “It will support me in doing this as well. If this data entity doesn’t resemble you at all, then why should I care about it?”
"That's so typical of you." Qin Chu smiled, his mood inexplicably improving.
He turned and approached Levi, continuing, "If he were exactly like me, would you choose to stay in the virtual world?"
"Maybe." Levi sat down and hugged Qin Chu's waist. "You're gone, so what difference does it make to me whether it's true or not? I just don't want to think about anything, I just want to live a life of debauchery, or do something terrible again."
"So spineless?" Qin Chu grabbed Levi's hair.
“So you’d better live a long life and keep a close eye on me,” Levy said.
"Okay." Qin Chu nodded.
The atmosphere aboard the Noah remained somber the following day.
The people gathered outside became much more agitated, their voices practically cracking with anger. They yelled into the communication channel, "Have you no shame? You're all cowards! You're hiding and don't want to move, but we're in a hurry to get home!"
No one answered from inside the Noah.
Qin Chu arrived at the main control panel, tapped the screen, and said to Noah, "Continue to connect to the first warship."
This time, the video call connected after a while, and it wasn't Qin Fei who appeared on the screen, but Chu He.
Chu He was somewhat surprised: "It's you again. This is the first time I've seen a space pirate so earnestly pleading with the military for permission to leave."
Even after thinking of what to say all night, Qin Chu was still speechless.
Lieutenant General Chu He was clearly very talkative. He looked at Qin Chu and said, "I see you're quite skilled, and unlike other space pirates, you don't follow the rules. Why don't you just surrender and train in the military's special forces for a few years? Maybe you can even serve on the First Warship in the future."
"Chu He, what are you saying?" A cold female voice came from behind.
Chu He turned his head and moved away slightly.
Through the gap beside him, Qin Chu could see Qin Fei sitting next to him, holding an electronic photo album and flipping through the photos one by one.
The details of the photo are not clear; only some warm-colored scenes can be seen, like photos of a very young baby.
Turning his gaze away, Qin Chu simply lowered his eyelids, refusing to look at what was on the screen.
He said, "We are not space pirates. There are no contraband or smuggled goods on our starship. We accept your personnel coming to inspect. Please confirm and register the starship before letting us pass. According to the Imperial Interstellar Transportation Control Act, starships that are not registered in the system due to accidents can still enter the channel after inspection."
Chu He was taken aback by this series of cold yet highly organized words, and even Qin Fei raised an eyebrow and looked over.
Chu He glanced at Qin Chu again, then turned to Qin Fei with a smile and said, "I'm using the rules to pressure you."
Qin Fei snapped the photo album shut and stood up: "The rules are right, let's go take a look."
Chu He straightened up to turn off the communication, but before he did, he winked at Qin Chu: "You're in trouble. She's in a bad mood right now."
Qin Fei was indeed in a bad mood, because if nothing unexpected had happened, she would have already returned to the capital star.
Turning her head and seeing Chu He come out, Qin Fei raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you laughing?"
“I was thinking, our kid is so cold and silent now, but when he grows up, he might be constantly arguing with you about the rules,” Chu He said.
Qin Fei didn't say anything and put the photo album away.
Qin Chu sat for a while before leaving the control panel.
He looked at the team members waiting in the control room and the corridor and said, "Get ready, someone will be coming to check on us later."
Then he said to Noah, "Change the specifications of the starship to avoid contraband from thirty years ago as much as possible."
Everyone responded, but none of them felt quite right.
While Qin Chu was communicating with the other side, even knowing that the other person was just a data entity, they still couldn't help but want to rush up, wave and greet the familiar person, and then point to themselves and ask, "Do you remember me? Do you know me?"
Now that these people are finally coming up, they are filled with endless panic.
I don't want them to come up, I don't want them to see me, I don't want them to know the truth... It's fine to just live in the virtual world as a data entity, knowing nothing.
The ranks within the starship shifted silently. The older members moved slowly to the back, hiding in the corridor. The younger members, without being told, automatically took their places at the front.
The two starships built a passageway, bringing the Overseas Chinese Federation together.
Qin Chu stepped forward and opened the cabin door.
Normally, patrols would send a special team, but this time the team was led by Qin Fei and Chu He.